Cassie2

I also did a bit of googling to confirm also and realise that I definitely can. Thank you for your help Thombatt. Plans are now firmly under way!!!

Hi, I am a 46 married female with children (with young outlook - still 26 in my mind - well maybe a bit older - I live in hope!!!). I am travelling solo out to WA later this year - Perth initially - Sept/Oct (approx 10- 14 weeks time) to do a recce re: schools, areas to live, costs, jobs etc. (I hold a WA sponsored 176 PR visa which was validated a while back). It would be really great to be able to meet some people and make some friends while there. I am hoping to travel (I love travel) using some kind of vehcile around WA while investigating and do a bit of exploring etc. Plan is for 3 months initially but if I manage to land a 'can't turn it down' job who knows. But its a very open plan currently - whatever it takes to do the research properly and get some kind of feel of what a permanent lifestyle in Oz will be like. I am interested in all sorts, independant, like my own company as well as loving others company too. I am really open and it would be really good also to meet others even who are just getting started, maybe doing something similar. Or, if your in the UK, maybe we could plan together and sharing the journey, costs, experience a little together???? Just ideas. This is as well as possibly meeting others who have been in Oz for sometime (or even just a little) and can provide the great gifts of expertise and experiences while living there. Look forward to hearing from you.

Hi, I wondered if someone could help me on regarding a similare issue: My husband was the lead applicant on our family's (2 adult, 2 children) WA sponsored 176 Sub Class visas which were granted to us during July 2011. We have since been out to Oz to validate our visas and our now back in the UK. We are thinking that it would be best if I went out on my own first to do a recce re: schools, home, jobs, area to live etc. This way my husband can continue working and the children continue school etc. without too much impact. Since we have all validated our visas by travelling to Oz initially, am I now free to come and go i.e. allowed to travel to Australia using my visa without the lead applicant (my husband) or family being with me to do this? Your help would be very much appreciated.

Iron Chef I am a newbie and have been reading through your fantastic posts. Sorry, my post is a little lengthy. My family and myself are currently in Bali having driven from the UK as part of a RTW adventure using a Land Rover Defender 110 CSW (2.5TDi, year of manufacture 1998). We have a special passport (carnet) for the vehicle which allows us to temporarily import for a set period of time to Oz before having to get it out again (this would mean shipping vehicle back to UK and then selling it on. However, we believe we are just about to be granted Subclass 176 Sponsored Skilled Visa for WA. In preparation, we are trying to ready ourselves and decide whether to A) Ship vehicle back to UK and sell B) Permanently Import to OZ and then eventually sell C) Temporarily import vehicle to OZ using carnet and then apply for permanent import within 6 months (but we assume there would be no cost difference, just time gained to get ourselves settled) For insurance purposes, the value of the vehicle under the carnet is approx 5,000 GBP. The reality of the value is somewhat more (though questionable in the UK right now!) especially given it's modifications for expedition travel. Just under 100K miles on the clock and we DO want to sell the vehicle (it was always our intention as we will not need such a specially prepared vehicle once we are settled and working in Oz). Any advice would be appreciated to help us decide which way to finally ship our car - ultimately we only want to pay a vehicle shipping fee once from where are now based in Indonesia - either north to UK or south OZ? Cassie2